Oketch set for historic Diamond League debut in Shanghai

When reigning national 400m champion Mercy Oketch lined up for the Brussels Diamond League (DL) Invitational race last year it was a sign that better was yet to come.

Now, the 23-year-old is set to make her DL debut at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday, 16 May against a stacked field after an impressive start to her season.

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Fresh from leading Team Kenya's 4x400m mixed relay squad to a fourth-place finish at the global event held in Botswana on 3 May, missing out on bronze at the line, Oketch is set to face tough opposition in Shanghai, where she is looking to establish herself as a rising talent in the one-day event.

The Shanghai DL meeting in Keqiao is the first of 15 legs set to conclude in Brussels later in the year, and the Kenyan will hope to carry her record breaking form to the Chinese District, having been part of the 4x400m mixed relay area and national record 3:09.87 run at the World Relays.

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Oketch has had a busy season, starting in January with the Indoor season, competing at the World Indoor Championships in Toruñ where she set a national record.

Her outdoor season has seen her compete at the Lefika International Relays back in March and the Addis Ababa Grand Prix.

At the Kip Keino Classic, she dominated the women’s 400m, winning in a season-best 50.17 ahead of Paris Peoples (51.06), while Mercy Chebet completed the podium with a personal best of 51.14.

She also delivered a statement performance at the Simbine Classic, clocking a world-leading 35.77 to win the women’s 300m and break the Kenyan national record, while edging formidable opposition in American Kenondra Davis who timed 35.81.

In Keqiao, she will be back in her signature race, going up against Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser, who has a personal best of 48.14, and Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce, who has run 48.57.

Naser was a world 400m champion in 2019 and claimed Olympic silver in Paris two years ago, also taking bronze in the 2025 world final, while Pryce, the 2024 NCAA champion, was also a world finalist last year in Tokyo.

Two-time world bronze medalist Sada Williams is also in the field, along with last year’s NCAA 400m champion Aaliyah Butler and 2025 world finalist Roxana Gómez.